"...Eddy?!?!?!"
"Mama...!!"
Mrs Chen arrived at the daycare centre and she saw her son Eddy had his right arm in a sling. Eddy reached out his left arm towards his mother and begged for a cuddle. Tears were streaming down his face. His mum quickly kneeled down to give him a cuddle, careful not to bump his injured arm.
"What happened to your arm sweetie?"
"Door."
"Door?"
"Mrs Chen, Eddy got his arm caught in the door."
"...What kind of door do you have? How can my son sustain an injury like this?"
"Brad pushed the door closed. He knew Eddy was there. He tried to hurt him."
Mrs Chen and the director whipped their heads around. It was little Brett, with tears in his eyes, red cheeks and clenched fists. He was angry.
"My mum said I can't hit Brad so I pulled his shirt so that he can't push the door. But his shirt stretched and he kept pushing the door. And Eddy's arm was stuck and he was hurt and crying. So I pulled Brad really hard. And then Brad punched and kicked me."
Brett burst into tears. Hearing his friend cry, Eddy started to cry, too.
"...I understand there is a new child here that seems to be causing some discomfort to some of the other children?"
"What are you trying to say Mrs Chen?"
"I'm saying that this place has the responsibility to keep all the children feel safe. Does this place have enough staff for adequate supervision?"
"Mrs Chen, this child.. has some special needs. I cannot just wave a magic wand for you and make those needs disappear."
"....excuse me?"
Eddy flinched and stopped crying. He knew this tone of his mother's voice.
Mrs Chen stood up. Eddy ran over to Brett who was still sobbing and hugged him.
Mrs Chen faced the director.
"I never, ever, mentioned anything about this child's disability. I was not aware this child had any and it has nothing to do with this particular matter. The bottom line is, if this place isn't adequately staffed to ensure the safety of all the children, it should not be operating. Excuse me for a second please."
Mrs Chen whipped out her phone and called Brett's mum and muttered something to her very quickly in Mandarin. Her conversation with her was no longer than 10 seconds and within 10 seconds from hanging up, the daycare centre reception phone rang.
The director picked up the phone.
"Hello, this is Brett Yang's mother. I'd like to give Mrs Chen permission to pick up my son Brett, thank you."
Mrs Chen looked at the director coldly.
"I hope everything is in order. C'mon boys."
The three left.
Brett was happily playing with Eddy at Mrs Chen's house when he heard his mother's voice.
"Brett!"
"Mama..."
Brett got up, hugged his mum and started to cry.
"Brett...I heard you were such a brave boy today."
She wiped her son's tears with her thumbs.
"Mama.. I didn't want Brad to hurt Eddy. Because Eddy is smaller than me."
"Yes, yes. I'm so proud of you."
"It was the way she tried to put this on me as if I was this heartless woman who had no empathy towards this child with certain needs...."
Mrs Chen was livid again as she told her story over a cup of coffee while the boys kept playing together.
"..But it had nothing to do with the child having any special needs.. You were just pointing out that they weren't enough staff to supervise property.."
"Yesss !! That's exactly what I said...!!"
"That's terrible. How is Eddy's arm?"
"Well, when he ran to give your Brett a cuddle, his arm wiggled out of the sling and he had both his arms around Brett, so I'm sure the arm is fine."
The two women turned to see the 2 boys happily putting together a marble run. Mrs Chen was impressed with the structure they put together, which must be a credit to 5-year-old Brett's more advanced construction skills. Eddy was giggling as he stood up on his toes and stretched out his arm to pour marbles into the top compartment to start the marble run. He was using his supposedly injured right hand to do this and he didn't appear to be feeling any discomfort at all.
Mrs Yang sighed and smiled.
"I'm glad to hear that. Look at them. They play so nicely together."
"Yes, they certainly do. Eddy seems to really like Brett. Look, I'm happy to look after your Brett till the director increases the number of carers. Or if you prefer, till you find alternative childcare for him."
"Well, I was just recommended this place by a friend.. it's a preschool with an after-hours care option for the days I work late. The teachers are all musically trained and play instruments. Would you be interested in having a look at this place for Eddy too?"
"Oh my. Yes. Most definitely."
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A/N: This concludes the story of the Twoset Daycare series. I really enjoyed writing about these little ones and I hope you enjoyed reading it <3
Addit: This series continues on as the boys move to a pre-school. Check out the Twoset Pre-school series which follows next !!